


Hello Fellow Hunter

by ruthlesslistener



Category: Hollow Knight (Video Games), Silksong (Video Games)
Genre: Character reveal fic, Gen, I just met her and yet I love her, Please let me be the first to write this character, She was just revealed but already i love her thanks, Silksong - Freeform, Silksong spoilers, Speculation, Well technically not really? I mean I wrote this just after release, pre-release writing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-15
Updated: 2020-06-15
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:21:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24743785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ruthlesslistener/pseuds/ruthlesslistener
Summary: Deep within the kingdom of Pharloom, Hornet meets a bug brooding her clutch, and a pact is formed. The Huntress desires food for her unborn young, and Hornet craves answers; though she cannot offer herself as a meal, she has her claws and needle to gather prey in exchange for information about the citadel she climbs towards, information that the old bug is more than willing to give to her.Any similarities to the siblings she left behind is not something she needs to dwell on.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 62





	Hello Fellow Hunter

**Author's Note:**

> SHE JUST GOT INFO REVEALED BUT I LOVE HER ALREADYYY, NEW MOM FOR THE MOM SQUAD
> 
> also i just typed this directly into the ao3 posting box so lmao sorry for it being short

She was waiting in the shadows, when Hornet came.

Tall and dark with a pale face, the first thing that she reminded her of was of the siblings she left far behind; an automatic reflex, sending a deep ache blooming through her chest. But the longer she looked at the great bug standing before her, the more differences became apparent- the round abdomen, the lighter black of the body beneath the cloak, the long, segmented limbs with no grasping fingers. There were nostril slots, on the pale face so alike her family's masks, and the branching horns on her head flexed and wriggled as she moved, not horns at all but something segmented, antennae flaring and flexing towards the intruder in her nest. Similar, but different. Familiar, yet alien.

And she sat upon a nest of huge, dark eggs.

She recognized the danger of her trespass, and checked her stride, coming closer with the point of her needle angled respectfully down towards the ground. She knew not the traditions of this kingdom, but the instincts of nesting mothers were universal to bugkind, and she did not wish to appear a threat. Defensive, yes, but aggression in a nesting ground would be folly, and she was tired enough from her travels as-is. She did not wish to have to waste her extra soul binding wounds earned from arrogance. Nor did this new bug appear to view her as prey, tilting her head curiously at Hornet; many bundled corpses hung from the ceiling, emitting a pleasantly musty scent, enough to feed her for a good long while. If she attacked, it would likely be due to a perceived threat to her brood, a possibility that Hornet had no desire to carry into reality.

She did not speak, not wanting to intrude on the silence of the nest. The brooding mother leaned forward, sniffing her quietly, then spoke, in a sibilant, sighing voice. “Ssssppiiiderr, Your ssstench is strange yet similar... Have you come bearing the organs of others? Or would you offer your own? Gift your sshell's warm insidess as ssweet feast for my brood'sss birth-meal?”

Ah, so the corpses on the ceiling were not enough. Hornet did not back down, but she did adjust the grip on her needle, preparing herself for battle just in case the encounter came to blows. She could not begrudge a mother for trying to feed her young, but she had too much to do to succumb to death just yet- perhaps an alliance could be forged, feed exchanged for information. “I can’t hep...I bear no organs for you to feast on, nor do I offer my own. But I am a strong hunter, and can bring you the food you desire if you answer some questions I have about Pharloom’s citadel.”

The broodmother hissed, leaning back into the shadows, but it did not seem to be directed at Hornet. The claws on the ends of her long legs twitched and scraped against each other, creating a soft, dissonant note, before she spoke again, in that voice that whispered and scratched and sighed like wind through old bone. Lonely and ancient, and it tugged at Hornet’s memory in a way that she couldn’t quite place. “A huntressss? I wasss a great hunter too, before brood came before ssssweet ssshell and flessssh. A ssstronger bug than the sssniveling wretches of that gilded city. You are akin to me then, little red-cloaked sssssspider, and for that I will accept your aid. Organs, for my children, sssweeet and soft and juicy. Warm and fressshhh, to give them sssstrength, ssso they may grow to be quick hunters like you and I. Bring me meat, ssstrange little sssspider, and I will anssswer what you wish. Yess, this I accept.”

“Then it shall be done.” Hornet shifted her stance, feeling the weariness drag at her before she shoved it away, some small part of her crying out at the thought of running again, running endlessly on and on and on through a kingdom not her own. Hallownest, though hostile, was at least her home, and she had thought that she caught a glimpse of it in here, with dark, closed walls and a bug with a pale, masklike face. But she could not rest. Not yet, not when she knew of no safe places, far away from the villagers who had helped shield her from the Church’s eyes, and the predator before her still watched her keenly with a hunger she knew all too well. “I will bring prey for your brood, and you will tell me of this kingdom’s folly. This we have agreed upon.”

“Yess. Thisss kingdom fallss. A rot creeps deep within, mindless bugs hurrying towards their doom above. You will do well to watch it, little hunter.” The Huntress clacked her claws together, and settled back among her eggs. “They are not kind to ssspiders like you.”

_ So I have observed, _ Hornet thought, letting the bitterness of the situation sting her heart. But she did not say anything out loud, nor did she offer the Huntress a farewell, lest the venom in her thoughts drip out into her words. She merely inclined her head, letting her gaze linger again on the branching white antenna and dark, cloaked form, before she turned and ran out again into the bright light of the kingdom beyond, her thoughts flying faster than her feet.

She had work to do, after all; it would not do to linger on bugs beyond her reach, on homes lost to time and cruelty, siblings lost to her needle. She could not afford to long for mothers stolen from her by fate, she could not stop to wonder if hers had brooded over her egg like the creature behind her, thinking that she would be safe in the world her sacrifice secured.

She could not.

(She did.)


End file.
